Edward Mallory
(Bill Horton, 1966-1980, 1991-1993)
June 14, 1930-April 4, 2007 

    Edward Mallory, who portrayed Bill Horton on "Days of Our Lives" for 14 years, has died. Mallory died on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at Meyersdale Hospital in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania after a long illness. He was 76. Mallory, whose birth name was Edward Martz, was born on June 14, 1930 in Cumberland, Maryland. All through grade school, Mallory never once thought of becoming an actor. After graduating from high school, he became a management trainee with a tire company. In the 1950's, he became a Lieutenant in the Army during the Korean War, where he was assigned to instructional duties. It was there that he discovered the best way he could get his ideas across to his recruits: by dramatizing them, giving impressions and acting out his commands. When the war ended, Mallory decided to give acting a try. He received his bachelor of fine arts in drama and graduated from Carnegie-Tech.
     His first acting role was on a 1960 episode of "Goodyear Theatre." After numerous primetime guest spots on such series as "Perry Mason", "Wagon Train", "McHale's Navy", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Bewitched" and "The Munsters", he was cast by producer Ted Corday in a starring role on the NBC daytime drama "Morning Star." As fate would have it "Morning Star" was cancelled just as "Days of Our Lives" was casting the role of Bill Horton. Mallory was cast in the role, and ended up doing double duty for a week, as he taped his last week of "Morning Star" and his first week of "Days" in the same week. He debuted as Bill Horton on June 21, 1966, while continuing to appear on "Morning Star" until its finale on July 1, 1966. Mallory would stay with "Days" for almost 14 years, until Bill and his wife, Laura Horton, were written out with many other castmembers in April, 1980. By then, Mallory was already yearning to move from acting to directing. In a 1977 article, he stated: "I asked to direct a week of Days of Our Lives, but Betty Corday said no. She said they couldn't have 'one of our family' write for us or direct us." He would get his wish in later years, however, directing several episodes of "Days" in the early 1990s. He moved full-time into directing after leaving "Days" and ended up directing daytime dramas for all three major networks. Mallory also made a brief return as Bill Horton for his daughter Jennifer's wedding in July 1991 and returned for ten final episodes which aired between October 1992 and January 1993. His final appearance as Bill (and last television acting appearance ever) came on January 5, 1993.
     Mallory was married to actress Joyce Bulifant from 1969-1974. They had one son together, Edward John, in 1971. He later married actress Suzanne Zenor (who played his on-screen daughter-in-law, Margo Horton, on "Days" from 1977-1980). They had one son together, Shay Edward, in 1984. In recent years, he had been living and working in his native Maryland, receiving his doctorate of education in 1997, and working as an adjunct communications professor at Frostburg State University. He is survived by two sons, Edward John and Shay Edward; his wife, Suzanne Zenor; and a grandson, Evan Joseph.

(New York Times, May 15, 1990)

Terry O'Sullivan
(Richard Hunter, 1966-1967)
July 7, 1915-September 14, 2006

     Nancy Parsons, a Minnetonka native who played a sexually repressed gym teacher in the movie "Porky's" and its sequels, died last Friday in La Crosse, Wis. Parsons died after a long illness. She was 58.

     Parsons had acted on stage and screen since 1977 and was best known for her portrayal of neurotics. In "Porky's" she played a humorless and rigid teacher named Miss Balbricker. She grew up on Lake Minnetonka's Grays Bay and was a 1960 graduate of Minnetonka High School. Shortly after her acting debut in the movie "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," she lamented her continuing portrayal as a villain. "I've really been typecast," she told the Minneapolis Star in 1980. "But I'm working all of the time, and that is a wonderful feeling." Her movie and theater credits included "Pennies From Heaven" and "Motel Hell," for which she was nominated in 1980 for best supporting actress by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. She also appeared on television on "The Bob Hope Christmas Special" and on episodes of "L.A. Law," "Charlie's Angels," "The Rockford Files" and "Lou Grant."
     She is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Hipwell and Margot Coulson; and two grandchildren, Cassidy and Jasper. (Minnesota Star Tribune, January 12, 2001)